Fond memories for oldest student at Waipukurau Primary School 150th

Wynne Bullen, 98, and her brother John Malkin at the Waipukurau Primary School 150th anniversary on Saturday. Photo/Ruby Harfield

Nearly a century has passed since Wynne Bullen first set foot in Waipukurau Primary School and things have certainly changed.

The 98-year-old was the oldest past student to return to the school on Saturday for its 150th anniversary celebrations which included an official opening, cake cutting and an evening function.

Mrs Bullen (nee Malkin), who moved from England in 1925, went to Waipukurau Primary School from 1926-1931 and has returned to the school twice for the 125th and 135th jubilees.

Everything at the school is different since she first started 91 years ago including the buildings and what students get taught, Mrs Bullen said.

"When I think back I was just a quiet girl, I was the studious one.

"I loved reading, writing, geography and history, we had good teachers.

"I now love doing quizzes and when people ask me how I know the answers, I tell them I learned it at school."

The way people are taught is very different now and when Mrs Bullen was at school students were never allowed to do music, which she would have loved.

Some highlights were the school ball every year and two trips to Napier by train to have a picnic by the sea.

"That was stopped during the worst of the Depression."

During her final year she experienced the devastating Hawke's Bay earthquake.

"That was the first one I had felt, coming from England. It was a very bad time."

Mrs Bullen was one of four girls who travelled for six weeks by boat to come to New Zealand for a better life.

Her parents had two boys after arriving in New Zealand.

After primary school she went to Waipukurau District High School and when she left she worked in a shoe shop on Ruataniwha St until she got married.

She spent most of her adult life in Lower Hutt and Trentham and now lives in a retirement village in Levin.

She has two sons, nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Mrs Bullen was driven to the reunion by her younger brother John Malkin, who also attended the school.

One of the organisers, Lynlee Johnson, said people from all over the country went to the celebrations and having the town anniversary on the same day was a bonus.

"It makes it a bit special and it's so nice that it's such a lovely day."

The small organising committee of Raewyn Sergeant, Karen Olsen-Mills and herself had worked tirelessly over the past year to make the day a success, Mrs Johnson said.